> But it is dangerous by definition. Run unknown binary is dangerous.

Making Apple $99 richer doesn't make your app any less dangerous.

It makes random apps much less likely to be dangerous.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36086537 is an analogous case. When the primary provider of free domains names went away, there was a HUGE reduction in phishing websites. Those types would spin up thouands of sites on xyz, vip and similar TLDs faster than the white hats could whackamole them.

A domain going from $0 to $10 vastly curtailed that activity. You don't have to make something impossible, you just have to make it not cost effective to shot gun it.

>It makes random apps much less likely to be dangerous.

Only because Apple has made it so.

What would be the drawback if I, a macOS developer not paying Apple $99 per year, had access to the macOS application notarization service for free?

You aren’t the center of other people’s lives. How is any old arbitrary user to know you’re not a con of a dev?

Software sales are contrived fiat exchange to give your code access to my hardware and userspace. Who the f are you?

> You aren’t the center of other people’s lives

And Apple is?

Is Apple some immutable scientific center of reality? No. But neither are you. It’s not a question of Apple is or isn’t but a statement “you are not”.

Apple suddenly vanishing would actually have a much more dramatic effect on millions than 1,000 random open source freelancers vanishing.

Having "skin in the game" is a way to keep a community honest. Even darknet markets use bonding for vendors. Not to mention that in the case of Apple registration, it leaves a paper trail. Though I'd agree that the $99 for the privilege seems arbitrary.

The $99 buys a certificate that Apple can revoke if (for example) you were using it to sign malware. The revocation of your certificate would prevent your malware from running on any Mac connected to the internet [0].

To me at least, that feels materially less dangerous to run than an unsigned app. Whether or not the system is effective, or if that's worth the $99 is obviously up for debate.

[0] https://eclecticlight.co/2020/10/28/code-signatures-1-how-th... (Search for CSSMERR_TP_CERT_REVOKED)

- AppStore apps must be sandboxed.

- AppStore apps are reviewed by Apple.

- Apple can ban malicious app in AppStore.

- Apple checks binaries when you run them even they aren't from AppStore due to notarization.